Hanging Tree
by fooppoof3
Summary: This is weird, I wrote it when I was half asleep. The song is from Mockingjay, by Susanne Collins. CoreyxLaney Rated T for death


Peaceville, 1700's

Laney got the first note a week after IT happened. IT was when Corey, her boyfriend for a month, best friend for life, had taken the blame for some terrible thing Laney had done. Again.

This time, though, the consequences were irreversible.

Laney had killed three people. Corey knew he would be hanged, but he covered for her anyway. The law enforcement had forced her to watch as the life drained from his eyes, which found hers at the last minute, as he choked out the word; 'Run.'

And run she did.

For a week, Laney had holed up in her room, not speaking to anyone, not sleeping, and barely eating. All she did was sob.

Until she found the note, anyway. It had been hidden under her pillow, and it held the words to a song popular in Peaceville, The Hanging Tree:

_Are you, Are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where they strung up a man _

_They say murdered three_

_Strange thing did happen here_

_No stranger would it seem_

_If we met up at midnight_

_In the hanging tree..._

Laney brushed it off as a cruel joke played by the only Newman left alive, Lenny Sill. It would be just like him to use her pain for a quick laugh.

For the first time in a while, she got some sleep. She still felt the waves of guilt crashing over her like waves in the sea.

She woke the morning to white. For a blissful moment, she thought she had died, and Corey would pop up out of nowhere at any second. Then she realized that a piece of paper was placed across her eyes. She crumpled it up and threw it away in disgust.

As it landed, it flattened out, as though some unseen hand wanted her to read it. She complied with whatever it was.

_Are you, Are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where the dead man called out_

_For his love to flee_

_Strange thing did happen here_

_No stranger would it seem_

_If we met up at midnight_

_In the hanging tree..._

This one creeped her out more than the last. It was only because of the initials at the bottom of the page. They were next to a heart. They were C.R.

C.R.

Corey Riffen.

No!

Laney refused to believe that her dead boyfriend was leaving her notes from beyond the grave. She didn't need that false sense of hope.

She opened the locket hanging around her neck. Inside was a black and white photo of Corey, laughing like Kin or Kon had just done something stupid.

"I miss you. I'm so sorry."Laney whimpered, feeling tears coming to her eyes.

For the rest of the day, she stayed right where she was, sobbing until no more tears would fall. She fell asleep clutching the locket tightly in her fist.

She didn't want to wake up the next morning. She didn't want any more-

And there it was. Another note, lying innocently on the floor by her door. The picked it up gingerly, like it might explode in her hand.

_Are you, Are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where I told you to run _

_So we would both be free_

_Strange thing did happen here_

_No stranger would it seem_

_If we met up at midnight_

_In the hanging tree..._

She looked at the bottom of the paper. This one said _'I love you, Lans. -Corey'_

Laney knew what she needed to do.

That night, she slipped out of her window and picked up the rope her neighbors used as a leash for their dog.

As she walked down the street, her foot caught on a stone with a piece of paper pinned underneath. Laney grabbed it and smoothed it out.

_Are you, Are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Wear a necklace of rope_

_Side by side with me_

_Strange thing did happen here_

_No stranger would it seem_

_If we met up at midnight_

_In the hanging tree..._

At the bottom, it read: '_Are you coming? Love, Corey_'

"I'm coming as fast as I can!" She yelled, not caring if anyone heard. She quickened her pace. Laney could see the gnarled oak up ahead. A glowing blue figure was sitting on one of the lower hanging branches.

Laney started running to the tree, to death, to Corey.

She reached the base of the tree in seconds, and was proven wrong. The apparition was Corey.

"Need a hand?" He asked breezily. Laney nodded, speechless, like all of those times in the past when she had wanted to tell Corey how she felt, but couldn't.

The shade offered his hand. Laney took it without hesitation, and was pulled up onto the branch as though the was weightless. The moon was directly overhead.

Laney fashioned a slipknot, then tied the other end of the rope to the branch beneath her. She pulled and tightened the slipknot around her neck, then flipped open her locket. That way, everyone would know her reason for doing what she was about to do.

"You'll stay?" She asked, uncertain for the first time that night.

"Till the very end." Her dead love assured her. Laney managed one last smile, then dropped down from the branch. The rope tightening around her neck was terribly painful, but she didn't struggle. It was what she wanted. The last thing she saw was Corey's ghostly smile.

Two spirits, red and blue, flitted from house to house around Peaceville, saying goodbye one last time before ascending into the Otherworld both now knew to be true.

As they entered, they watched, amazed, as the rope burns and bruises faded from the other's neck.

There, pain sadness and suffering didn't exist. The souls gathered there knew only love and happiness.

The citizens of Peaceville found Laney's body swaying next to Corey's in the gentle morning breeze. The mayor was summoned, and her declared that day a city-wide day of mourning.

A joint funeral was held for the departed teens.

Lenny Sill sat with Kin and Kon in the front row.

**Otherworld, December 1999**

"Laney, tomorrow is the day. I spoke to the Goddess, she said she'd keep us together." Corey exclaimed, still looking 13. Laney, who had also retained her age(unlike some spirits), smiled.

Tomorrow was the start of a new century.

It was time to forget the tree.

**The next day**

Goddess Nyx stood with the eager couple at the edge of the precipice. She was chanting quietly, neither of the souls could hear her.

"Leap into the gorge, and you shall be born again! I've taken the steps to ensure that you'll find each other. This time, I promise you a long, happy life." Nyx exclaimed

Corey and Laney shared a final embrace, then jumped together.

In the year 2000, Laney Penn and Corey Riffen were reborn.


End file.
